Goodbye For Now
by MyFairRaven
Summary: This is a story about Sakura Haruno's death in a battle and what she left behind for the people that she loved the most...
1. Chapter 1

_**G**_**oodbye for now**

***This is a story about Sakura Haruno's death in a battle and what she left behind for the people that she loved the most... **

***Be gentle with reviews on this one, this is my first tragic story and I can almost promise it will make you cry. It may be a little sappy, but I am proud of it.**

**Five men stood in front of the grave of their female team mate on a cold and rainy August morning. The weather fit their mood as they watched their team mate being put in the ground. A week ago she was this vibrant, healthy woman that they had all loved and now she was pale and motionless, her warmth was gone from them forever.**

_Three days ago Tsunade had called all five of them into her office, Naruto had burst in and as usual asked when Sakura was supposed to be back from the mission that she had been sent on a week earlier. He was waiting for the answer when he noticed that Tsunade was pale and she had been crying recently, everybody in the room was deathly quiet while waiting for what she had to tell them. Tsunade looked at the five men in front of her, they had all gone a little pale as if they knew something bad had happened, they had no idea how right they were. "Naruto Uzamaki, Sauske Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, Yamato, and Sai. It is with great sadness that I must inform you that your team mate Sakura Haruno has been killed in the line of duty." Tsunade waited for their reply, none was offered, they all looked to be in a state of horrified shock. Sauske, Sai and Yamato looked as if they might be sick, but they took the news without shedding a tear, they made their excuses and left to digest the news and grieve in private. Naruto and Kakashi were the only two left in the room with Tsunade. "What happened?" Kakashi asked. "They were ambushed on their way back from their mission, none of them survived, we have yet to find out who killed them though." Tsunade replied. Kakashi looked as if he might cry as he made his excuses so that he could grieve in private. That left Naruto and Tsunade in the office, "Naruto, I'm sorry." Tsunade said. "Yeah well, sorry isn't going to bring her back is it?" Naruto hissed. "Naruto.." Tsunade began, but was cut off by Naruto's "I have to go, I have things that need to be done." and with that Naruto slammed out of the Hokage's office. Tsunade had never been more worried about the five boys in her entire life, she was afraid of what damage Sakura's death might have done to all of them._

**The men stood in front of her headstone long after everyone else had already left, the headstone read: **_**Sakura Haruno, Age 19, proud daughter and loyal friend. **_**It seemed like so few words didn't do her life justice, but it was all that was left of her now, or so they thought.**

** "Uggmm" A man cleared his throat behind the five silent men, it sounded like a shout in the deathly silence surrounding the grave. Kakashi turned to the man and asked, "Can I help you?" The man stared at him for a second then said, "Yes, I am miss Haruno's lawyer and I need to find some people that she left a few things for."**

**Everyone was silent for a moment then Naruto spoke up, "Who are you looking for?" he asked. "Five people actually, Naruto Uzamaki, Sauske Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, Sai and Yamato. Do you know where I might find them, I have some letters that miss Haruno left for them in the even that she died while out on a mission." Sauske stepped foward, "That would be us, now let us see the letters." he stated in a cold tone. The lawyer paled a little at his tone but said, "Oh well yes, here they are then I will just need all of you to sighn here saying that you recieved them." The boys each sighned the paper the lawyer held out and then took their letters and without a word to each other headed towards their individual homes. The lawyer thought that this must be the coldest bunch of individuals he had ever seen as he watched them walk away with equally cold faces the letters clutched in their hands, and then he too left the cemetary.**


	2. Chapter 2

** NARUTO**

*** OK, so here is the second chapter of my really sad story that is making me cry while writing it. So without further comments I give you the second chapter...**

**Naruto rushed home from the cemetary because he was dying to see what Sakura had written in the note that she had left him. It was all he had left of her and he wanted to make sure that he read it as soon as possible.**

** When Naruto got home he carefully opened the letter and sat down on his worn couch to read it.**

_**Dear Naruto,**_

_** If you are reading this letter then that means that I am no longer here. I know that it must have grieved you to find out that I had died, but please do not grieve for me, I ask instead that you celebrate my life and our friendship and cherish it always as I did myself. **_

_** I never got the chance to tell you how proud I am of you while I was alive and I am sorry for that, but never doubt that I was and always will be proud of you. You became my best friend in those dark years when Sauske was gone and I know that someday you will make a great Hokage, my only regret is that I won't be there to see it. But on that day, always remember that I am there with you in spirit and I know that you will be a strong and trustworthy leader because that is who you are. You may not see me on that day, but i'll see you. I won't be able to talk to you, but never doubt that wherever I am I will be happy for you that day. **_

_** I know that you and Hinata are engaged and are soon to be married, I give you my congradulations and best wishes and I hope that you two have a long and happy life together, you deserve it. I think that this day is the one that I am going to regret missing the most, but that's ok you can tell me all about it when we meet again in the next life, until then though try to be happy I don't know of anyone who deserves it more. I know you will miss me on this day, but I want you to remember that even if I can't be there in person in my heart I will always be right beside you wherever you go and whatever you do, and until we meet again that will have to be enough. You are strong Naruto, one of the strongest people I know, you will make it through this even if it hurts right now. **_

_** I have one last request to make of you Naruto and I hope that you won't think that it is too much to ask. I need you to take care of the rest of the team for me, especially Sai and Sauske, they need you now that I am gone. Don't let them forget that you are their family and that they are loved, I know it sounds simple but those two are inclined to forget it sometimes and I can't be around to remind them anymore so it's up to you now. **_

_** Naruto, you are the brother that I never had, in the years that we have know each other you have become as much my family as my blood kin and I want you to always remember that, I love you and I will miss you everyday until we see each other again whenever that may be. Live your life to the fullest Naruto, I will be there in your memories, just remember to think of me every once in awhile. Take care of Hinata, she loves you and you love her, that is all that matters never forget it. **_

_** If you ever feel lost go back to the training ground where we first became a team, and then think of me and know that when you do I will be watching over you and loving you from somewhere far off...**_

_** Until we meet again,**_

_**Sakura**_

__**Naruto was crying openly by the time he finished the letter, "I love you too Sakura, until we meet again." he softly whispered. He made a vow then to keep their team together for her no matter what it takes, he would remind them as many times as he needed to that they were a family and Sakura would have wanted them to move on and live life to the fullest, and that is exactly what he plans to do.**


	3. Chapter 3

** Kakashi**

***Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in case that's not obvious by now.**

*******So here is the third chapter in Goodbye For Now, it will probably be a while before I get another chapter up though because I have another story that I am currently working on, but it proving to be a lot harder to write than this one. Never fear though, I am sure I will have another chapter for this story too before you know it...)**

** Kakashi walked home from the cemetary at a much more subdued pace than Naruto had, but on the inside he was just as anxious to read the letter his beloved student had wrote to him before her death. **

** Sakura had been like a daughter to Kakashi even though he had never told her that out loud, that just wasn't his style, it didn't make it any less true. He missed her more than he ever thought possible, she had been the glue that had held the five of them together through good times and bad.**

** Out of all of them she had been the one with a gentle soul, the others had all experienced loss early in life and it had left them hard around the edges, but Sakura had been different. She had a genuine love of life that most people lacked and she had made them truly thankful to have known her, even for a short time. She had been their guardian angel, to keep them from being drowned by the darkness that surrounded them.**

** Kakashi had finally reached the door to his apartment, when he got inside he calmly went over to the sink to pour himself a glass of water and then sat down at his desk and began to read the letter Sakura had wrote to him...**

_**Kakashi Sensei,**_

_** It has truly been an honor working together with you all of these years, you were and still are the best teacher that any student could have asked for. You taught me much, and not just about fighting, but about life as well. I think that it is only fair that here in my final hour that I am finally able to teach you something, even though I won't be around to see my work compleated.**_

_** For as long as I have known you, you have always though that you were alone. That is not true, you have more family than you can imagine. You have Naruto, Sai and Sauske, who for as long as I have known them have though of you as a father, even if they have never admitted ot out loud, and I know that you think of them as your son's. Then there is Captin Yamato, who thinks of you as a very good friend if not as a brother, and even though I know it's not in your nature to admit it, I know that you are fond of him as well. And then there is me, the daughter that you never had, and even though we are not flesh and blood, to me you are like a second father and I love you, and I know you felt the same way. I know you never got the chance to tell me how you felt, but I am hoping that you won't make the same mistake with the others, tell them how you feel about them, they need to hear it now more than ever. With me gone you are now going to have to be the glue for this team, make sure they stay together and always remember that they are lucky to have each other and you, because they are, and don't just remind them of that, remind yourself as well.**_

_** I know that your life has been hard and full of pain, I am sorry to have added to that pain, but I can't say that I am sorry to have known you because that would be a lie. I hope that you can forgive me for going first ahead of all of you, but maybe that's just the way it was meant to be, who knows? I need you to know that I was proud to have known all of you and that I wasn't scared in my final moments, I was at peace, because I knew that all of you were together again and that you would take care of each other, just as we have always done for each other. I will miss you every day until we see each other again, and I know that you will miss me too, but please, don't be sad because i'm gone, instead be happy because I was there. That's the way I want it, don't worry, just because you move on and and are happy again doesn't mean that you loved me any less, if anything it means that you are honoring my life by living yours to the fullest. **_

_** Take care of my boys for me while I am gone, don't worry I have no doubt we will see each other again someday, until then I look foward to meeting you in the next life.**_

_** Goodbye For Now,**_

_** Sakura**_

** Afterwards Kakashi would never admit it to any of his teamates, but he actually**_** cried**_** when he read what Sakura had wrote, that had to be a first for him. He softly whispered to the air, "Don't worry Sakura I will take care of them for you.", and then he smiled for the first time in a long time.**


	4. Chapter 4

***It took me longer than I thought it was going to, but I finally got the fourth chapter done. This one was a little difficult for me to write, I know Sai is OOC, but it couldn't be helped, so please be gentle with your reviews...)**

***Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. **

** SAI**

** Sai walked home at an almost snail pace, it's not like he didn't want to read his letter, because he did. The problem was that he knew when he read that letter, he would have heard the last from Sakura in this lifetime. Although he hadn't known the pink haired kunoiche for as long as the other members of his team had, apart from Yamato that is, he had become really close to the girl, and he missed her a great deal.**

** She had been a good friend to him, she was more patient than Naruto or Sauske were with him when he made an error in communication, or spoke to bluntly, and she was always the one to include him when the others decided to do something together, it's not like Naruto or Sauske hated him or anything, it was just those two sometimes forgot that he was also a part of their team now. **

** Even though Sai had been walking so slowly he eventually reached the door to his apartment, he opened the door and entered and then he decided to sit on the couch for awhile before opening the letter to read it, he needed some time to prepare himself for Sakura's last words to him.**

** After a while Sai slowly reached for the envelope and gently opened it, inside he found two pieces of paper, one was a letter written to him by Sakura, and the other was a sketch of all five of the boy's sitting under a tree together eating lunch. Sai sat the sketch on the table and unfolded Sakura's letter to begin reading.**

** Dear Sai,**

** I hope you liked the sketch, I know my artwork isn't as good as your but I think it's alright, anyway I wanted you to have this sketch that I drew on the last evening we all spent together because I know how much you appreciate art over words, so this sketch is my way of reminding you in a way that is unique to you, that you are a part of team Kakashi now so that you won't forget it.**

** I know that you had a hard life before you met Team Kakashi, and I know that we can't make up for all that you went through before we met you, but I hope that in some way I helped make up for just a little of it by being the best friend that I knew how to be to you. I know that I was hard on you sometimes, but it was only because I wanted you to be the best person that you could be and I wanted to help you be that person.**

** I know that you haven't had any experience with "Family", but that is what Team Kakashi is, we are a family, and now you are apart of that family. Even though I won't be around for you to come to when you are having trouble with something, that doesn't mean that you can't go to Naruto or Sauske with it. They may never show it, but they would do anything for you, because you are just as much family to them as you are to me, and I hope that you feel the same way about us.**

** You were a good friend to me Sai, and even though I didn't know you as long as I did the others, you became family to me. I regret that I won't be around to see you grow into the wonderful man that I know you will become, but that doesn't mean that I am any less proud of you for all your going to accomplish in the future. I know that you will miss me, as I will miss you, but just think of me when you are doing your drawings, imagine that I am standing over your shoulder watching, and know that you will never be far from my heart, wherever I go I will always carry you with me as a precious memory.**

** This is where I must say my final goodbye and ask you for a special favor. I don't want you to be alone, so I ask that you open up a bit more to Naruto and Sauske and that you try to become as close to them as they are to each other, I know this will be hard for you, but I need you to do it, because that is how you are going to take care of each other, by maintaining your bonds. **

** I am sad for leaving, but happy because I know that we will see each other again someday. So let's both look foward to that day, alright?, But for now live your life to the fullest and enjoy your new family, remember that I love you all.**

** Sakura**

** Sai stared at the letter and then he gave a small smile, "For you Sakura I will try to make stronger bonds with both Naruto and Sauske.", he took the letter and placed it in a special drawer in his desk and then laid down to go to sleep. As he drifted off, he could have sworn that he saw sakura wave goodbye to him in his minds, she looked just like she had on the day she left for her last mission. Sai smiled again and drifted off to sleep peacefully.**


	5. Chapter 5

***Hey Guys! I know it's been awhile since I have updated this story, but I have been really busy with my new job. I do however apologize for the delay. I hope you enjoy this chapter and reviews would be appreciated. **

***Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.**

** Yamato**

** Yamato walked home from the cemetary at his normal walking pace, but as he walked he couldn't help but think of the pink haired girl that he had come to think of as a friend. He had not known the girl for as long as Kakashi had and he didn't have the same kind of emotional bond with her, but he didn't doubt for a second that he would miss the girl.**

** When he got to his apartment he sat down on his couch and pulled out the letter the girl had written to him. He opened the letter carefully and began to read.**

** Dear Yamato,**

** I know that you and I have only known each other for a short time, and I know that we don't hae the bond that I have with the others. I regret that we didn't have enough time to form that kind of bond with each other, I know that if we had I would have come to think of you as a second father like I do Kakashi Sensei. Instead, I think of you as a good friend and sensei.**

** You may not have been on our squad for as long as the others, but you seem to fit right in with us, maybe because your more like all of us than you realized. You once told me that we can't afford compassion, but since I have come to know you I realized that you are one of the most caring and compassionate people I know, just like Kakashi Sensei. Oh, I know you two like to pretend that you don't care, but I know that couldn't be further from the truth.**

** You and Kakashi both have a good heart, and I hope that in the future you will learn to show it more often, it's not a weakness, in fact, I think it makes you stronger because you are able to connect and share with others better, don't worry, you will figure that out one day.**

** Don't be too hard on Naruto, Sai and Sauske, I know that can be real jerks sometimes, but inside they are just as soft as you and Kakashi Sensei. They would like for me to believe otherwise, but they forget that I have known them my whole life and I have seen the caring and kindness every one of them are capable of. Correction, I haven't known Sai my whole life, but I have gotten to know him and I know that he is just the same on the inside as Naruto and Sauske.**

** Please, take care of the rest of the team for me, they need you right now, and although I know you will try to deny it, you need them too. You all need to work together to get through this and move on, i'm counting on you to make sure that everyone else keeps their head on straight. I know that you are the one for this job because you have the clearest head on the team, and you can keep the others from being stupid, including Kakashi Sensei.**

** I regret that we won't be getting to know each other better in the future, but I hope that you think of me from time to time, I hope that we meet again in the next life.**

** Sakura Haruno**

** Yamoto slowly laid the letter down on the table and then went to go get dressed for bed. As he was laying in his bed that night he couldn't help but think of the pink haired girl and what she'd wrote in her letter, he smiled fondly.**

** He knew that keeping the others from doing stupid things in the future wouldn't always be easy, but he would try for her sake, because she had been a good friend and student to him, and despite not knowing her that long he really cared for her.**

** Yamato closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.**


	6. Chapter 6

***Hello again, Sorry it's been a few weeks since I last updated, but I was a little busy and this is the first time I have had free...So anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter of the story. It was by far the hardest one for me to write, as I am a big fan of SasuSaku and I want them to have a happy ending, which they don't in this particular story.**

***Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.**

***NOTE: My E-mail is currently not working so if you want to get in touch with me or you have any requests I would appreciate it if you could just PM me instead of sending E-Mail. :)**

** Sasuke**

** Sasuke didn't walk slow or fast while returning to his home, he walked at his normal pace and contemplated the events of the day. He thought about the letters that Sakura had left for him and the others and wondered what the other letters had said, but more importantly he wondered what **_**his**_** letter said.**

** He and Sakura hadn't talked a whole lot since he had come back to the village, hell he was lucky they talked at all after he had tried to kill her, but he wasn't going to admit that to anyone but himself. He also wasn't going to admit that while he had been away from the village Sakura had been the one that he had missed the most, he missed her taking care of him and being there when he was hurt, he missed the fact that she had made him feel like he had someone who truly cared about him.**

** When he got home he went to fix him a drink and then sat down on his bed to read her letter.**

** Dear Sasuke,**

** If you are reading this then that means that you know by now that I am gone. I guess you are wondering how I knew to write these letters to you all before I went on this mission, well I didn't, the truth is I wrote these letters a few weeks ago just in case anything happened to me. I wanted all of you to have one last thing to remember me by.**

** Although I wrote four other letters besides this one and they were all hard to write, this letter was by far worse than any of the one's that had come before it. I guess by now you know that you are the single most important person in this world to me and as such writing a good-bye letter to you was the most painfull thing that I have ever had to do, but I don't regret writing it, because it would have been far more painful to leave you without saying good-bye.**

** You and I have so much history together, in fact, I can't remember anymore what my life was like without you in it. It took me day's to finally figure out what I wanted my last words to you to be if I did die on a mission, you may not like what I have to say in the rest of the letter and you may not believe what I write, but that's ok, I came to terms with the fact that you will never be who I want you to be long ago. I don't need you to believe me or return my feeling's, I just need you to hear what I have to say for once, I need you to hear the things that I didn't have the courage to tell you when I was alive.**

** Life isn't always what you picture it to be, when I was a little girl and we were first put on the same team together I dreamed that you would fall madly in lobe with me then we would grow up together get married and live happily ever after, but life had a different plan for us.**

** I used to hate you just a little for leaving me to go and seek revenge against your brother because that brought an end to all my girlish dreams, but I realized after you left that dreams could change and that just because we didn't get together like I thought we would didn't mean that I had to give up the dream of us getting together at all. Naruto and I made a vow to bring you back to the village, to bring you home. I thought that it would be easy, but it turned out that it wasn't easy at all, you were stubborn and didn't want to come back. When you finally did come back you had changed, you weren't the boy that I once knew, but even then I knew that I still loved you more than anything in this world.**

** The first time that I met you I knew that I would love you for the rest of my life, however long that may be, it wasn't always easy with you, in fact, it was never easy with you. You didn't want anyone to love you, but I tried my best to be there for you and love you as much as you would allow anyway. I treasured the little moments when you would let me take care of you, because that meant that you trusted me at least a little and that was a start.**

** When you wanted to leave the village and join Orochimaru I knew that I had to stop you any way that I could, I couldn't stand the thought of you joining someone like him, I loved you too much to let that happen. I failed to convince you though even when I confessed that I was in love with you. I don't blame you for that anymore, I have come to understand that it was something you needed to do, even though it broke my heart. Over the next three years I only saw you a handfull of times when Naruto and I were trying to convince you to come home, but I treasured every one even though you were trying to kill us, because it meant that I got to be near you if only for a few minutes at a time.**

** When Naruto finally did convince you to come home it was the happiest day of my life, even though I knew things would never go back to the way they were originally I was still happy, because you were finally home where you belonged with the people who loved you.**

** I know that now your wondering why if when you came home I still loved you I never made an attempt to get together with you or at least tell you how I felt, well I guess that was just me being a coward. You see, when you came home you were colder than ever and it took you weeks to warm a little bit towards us, I knew you wouldn't welcome a confession of love from me at that point and maybe not ever. I decided to wait to tell you, but I could never bring myself to do it. I was afraid of what you might say, see, it hurt when you rejected me the first time, and even though I was devestated I still had hope you would change your mind someday, but I knew that if I told you this time and you rejected me then that would be it, I would never get another chance. The fear of that happening was just too much for me, so I kept putting it off until I had run out of time and I didn't get to tell you out loud at all. **

** I suppose not being able to bring myself to tell you will be one of those things that I go to the grave regreting, but just because I didn't tell you out loud dosn't make it any less true. I do love you, I always have and I always will, death can't change that. Although you and I have walked very different paths, we were always connected in some way, our lives always seemed to collide somehow. I have often wondered what might have been if things had been different for us, but that is a waste of time, things aren't different, and although knowing you could be painfull sometimes I wouldn't have missed it for the world. **

** Knowing you changed my life, made me stronger than I ever thought I could be. There are things that I wish I could have changed for you and I am sorry that I couldn't, but those things are what made you who you are and I guess that means that even though they were terrible they were neccesary. I will miss you, I will miss your smile and your laughter and, as strange as it sounds, in some way, I will miss the life that you and I could have had together if things had been different. **

** I guess I will never know if you loved me or not, I like to think that you did, if only just a little, but I do know that one day you will get married and have a wife and kids of you own(it's always been your dream to repopulate the Uchiha clan after all) I don't know who you will marry, but I do know that I envy her a little because she will get everything that I have always wanted, she will get to share her life with you, get to watch your children grow up and then get to grow old with you. She will get to live my dream.**

** Don't get me wrong, I want you to move on with your life and be happy, if anyone deserves a little happiness it's you, but I hope that as you live out your life that you will think of me from time to time and remember the good times that we had together. Maybe we will meet again in the next life and things will be different for us, that thought gives me something to look foward to.**

** Take care of Naruto for me will you? And make sure you take care of yourself as well and be the good person that I know you were always meant to be. You will do great things, I know you will because you always have, I just wish I could be there to see it, I know I would have been proud of you and Naruto both. You two have always been amazing.**

** I hope we meet again someday, but until then just remember to think of me sometimes, and I know that I will think of you.**

** With Love,**

** Sakura**

** Sasuke quickly closed the letter and dabbed at his eyes which were staring to water a little bit, although he would never admit that. He looked at the ceiling and thought of the girl that he knew when he was younger.**

** He remembered the time that she had confessed to love him like it was yesterday, but like she had said in her letter back then he hadn't wanted anyone to love him, those little moments when he had let her take care of him were the closest he had come to letting someone love him.**

** Looking back on his life, the one thing he regretted above all others was never telling her that he had loved her to and still did. He thought it would be easier for her of she thought that he hated her, she might move on with her life that way, but now he realized far too late that he had been mistaken.**

** He knew with certainty that she would be the one woman that he would always love, he could never forget her even if he wanted to, he knew this because he had tried, he had tried hard, but somehow she always came back to him. He knew that one day he would have to marry and carry on with his life, but he didn't think a day would ever go by when he didn't think of her, he would lobe her for the rest of his life.**

** He looked up at the ceiling and whispered the words he knew she had always wanted to hear, "**_**I love you too Sakura."**_**, he only hoped that wherever she was she somehow got the message. As he lay down that night a picture of her face appeared in his mind and she was smiling like she used to when he first met her, and at that moment he knew that somehow she had got the message and this was her way of saying she loved him too.**


End file.
